THE RED COW 



and he proceeded to cut to that ideal. As he worked 

 there began to emerge just the kind or lamb one 

 sees in the show ring or pictured in the agricultural 

 papers. The new lamb was not the harum-scarum 

 Mary Belle in any sense of the word. She looked 

 twice the size, and her smooth coat, entirely free 

 from snarls and elf-locks, made her look as fat as a 

 seal. I had to poke at her new coat in order to con- 

 vince myself that it was not really a convict-clip, 

 right close to the skin. The surface seemed to show 

 the movement of the flesh underneath, and her sides 

 palpitated to every breath, just as if there was no 

 covering of wool. 



As the expert worked she took on a wonderful 

 smoothness and roundness. Her hams looked like 

 legs of lamb such as had never been. Her back 

 became broad and plump and her breast was a de- 

 light to look at. I watched admiringly while an en- 

 tirely new Mary Belle was carved from the raw ma- 

 terial of the old. And the strange thing of it was 

 that she seemed to like the transformation. Be- 

 fore the work was half done there was no need of a 

 strong man to hold her. She stood with her chin 

 resting in the showman's hand while he snipped and 

 clipped her to shape. Finally he turned her over to 



110 



